PUTNAM INVESTMENTS FORMS ALLIANCE WITH NIPPON LIFE

Putnam Investments said yesterday that it had formed an alliance with Nippon Life Insurance in Osaka, Japan, for the management of Japanese pension fund assets. Putnam said it also formed an alliance with Nissay Asset Management Company, a unit of Nippon Life, to jointly market and manage international products to Japanese pension fund sponsors. Putnam, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, manages more than $190 billion in assets for 575 institutional clients and more than eight million individual shareholders. Nippon Life has about 17.5 million policyholders and $355 billion in assets.